Alien Relic Hunter

"What about the other person? Where is he now?" Before Ke Lan could speak, Asano Akira beside him couldn't help but ask.

"He...he...he is now..."

The woman did not answer immediately, but became hesitant. Ke Lan couldn't help but feel a thump in his heart. He glanced at Asano Akira with some worry. Then he turned his head, stared into the woman's eyes, and asked in a low voice: "Tell me first, is he still alive?"

"I...I don't know."

Ke Lan noticed that Asano Akira's hand was tightly holding the sword disguised as a guide stick, and the cloth wrapped around the scabbard was squeezed into obvious wrinkles.

"You said you don't know, then you didn't see him being killed with your own eyes, right?" Ke Lan grabbed the woman's shoulder with his other hand, "Then tell us everything you know. Not only do I not I’ll kill you, and I’ll give you three more painkillers.”

"Let me... think about it for a moment..." The woman lowered her head, covered her head with her hands, and tried to remember.

"Don't worry, think about it carefully and carefully, and don't miss any important details." Ke Lan said.

The woman was silent for four or five minutes before she said, "The first time I noticed that person was probably on the transport ship."

Ke Lan and Asano Akira both pricked up their ears, but neither of them said anything for fear of interrupting the woman's thoughts.

"His gray-white hair was particularly conspicuous. When I was just taken into the cargo hold, I noticed him sitting in the corner."

Sitting in the corner? Hearing the woman's description, Ke Lan's facial expression couldn't help but show a slight change... It seemed that his previous guess was correct, and Marshall had indeed recovered from his paralysis.

Although Ke Lan wanted to ask a lot of details, he did not speak and continued to listen to the woman.

"I thought it was an old man at first. I was very curious at the time... You also know that older people cannot bear the physical work of miners. Moreover, the environment in the mining area is so bad, with high temperature, lack of oxygen... and that Damn radiation, young people can't survive for a few months, let alone old people whose physique is not as good as young people. At that time..."

As the woman spoke, her body suddenly swayed, and her eyes flashed with a dazed look. The body that was originally sitting on the bunk fell limply and slowly tilted to one side.

"It's a side effect of painkillers. In addition to relieving pain, this stuff can also be used as a sedative. She just swallowed three tablets in one go, which is already 1.5 times the highest daily dose." Ke Lan couldn't help but feel a headache. He quickly supported the woman's body, and using his own shield, he took out a highly concentrated military stimulant from the secret bag, used his nails to lift the protective cap of the needle, pierced the woman's arm, and then crushed it. The end of the syringe is filled with a glass bubble of compressed air.

The medicinal liquid was quickly injected into the young woman's veins, and as the blood spread, she subconsciously let out a comfortable moan. Her eyelids that had begun to close slowly opened again, and she looked at it with some astonishment. Ke Lan.

"You...what was the injection you just gave me?"

Her heart rate began to increase, her cheeks and the front wall of her chest turned a light blush due to the accelerated blood flow, and her ten fingers were trembling slightly involuntarily.

"Are you still feeling subtle pinprick sensations on your back, thighs and neck?" Ke Lan said, "The injection I just gave you was a military stimulant. The main active ingredients are epinephrine and glucocorticoids. This These are all normal reactions...otherwise, you would have fallen asleep just now."

"You...who are you? Why do you have such a thing?" The woman's throat trembled, and she swallowed with some difficulty, "This thing shouldn't be something you stole from the transport ship, right? Those painkillers are not...and, and your handful..."

Before the word "gun" in "that gun" was uttered, Ke Lan interrupted her: "It doesn't matter who we are. If you still want to get some medicines from me, just continue to remember. , tell me everything you know about that white-haired man."

"...Okay." The young woman nodded vigorously, "He...the white-haired man, I thought he was an old man at first, but when I got closer, I realized that he was only in his forties at most."

Forty years old... Ke Lan thought, the age is right. According to Asano Akira, if Marshall is still alive now, he would be around thirty-five years old at most. It is normal to suffer from torture and appear older in appearance.

"There were many tubes in his arm, those kind of transparent plastic tubes." The woman continued, "I saw something dark brown flowing inside the tubes... I didn't know if it was blood."

Extracorporeal catheterization? Ke Lan frowned. This was probably part of some kind of life-support device? In the early years, many biochemically modified people had such tubes. However, later, because external tubes were easily damaged and increased the risk of infection of body tissues, they were gradually improved into internally embedded tubes - like Layton That guy, two-thirds of the blood vessels in that part of his body are artificial, and there are countless various pipes buried in the body, but from the outside, his body is almost the same as a normal human being.

An external pipeline like this is either an extremely ancient biochemical modification surgery, or a temporary life-support device. If a temporary device like this is not regularly maintained, its service life will not be long. More than a month.

And in this sick village, there are obviously no conditions to maintain this thing.

If this thing is really a temporary life-support device, then three months have passed now, and even if Marshall is still alive, the situation will definitely not be much better.

Unless, he can meet the conditions for dismantling the life-support device within these three months.

But even if you want to create miracles through mutation, three months alone will not be enough to rely on the radiation intensity in the space station.

"Keep talking." Ke Lan said to the woman.

"Not long after I boarded the ship, everyone gathered, and then the transport ship started." The woman licked her chapped lips, "The people on the ship only distributed food and water to us once, and then never again." Didn’t enter the cargo hold before arriving at the destination.”

"It seems that the Mitsui Consortium is quite kind." Ke Lan thought in his heart, probably because he was also on the ship... As for the transport ship this woman boarded, the crew obviously didn't care much about them. Life or death, this not only reminded Ke Lan of the stowaway boats operated by smugglers in the old era - they were packed with people in the cabins and hidden plywood, like a crowded sardine can. As for how many of the 'fish' in the can are still alive after arriving at their destination, it is not something they need to worry about.

Anyway, the so-called "immigration fee" was paid to these stowaways long before they boarded the ship.

The crews of these transport ships may view these sick miners just like the smugglers of the past viewed those stowaways... As for the rules of the Mineral Mining Alliance, it is actually just a cover to hide their ugliness.

"They gave us a day's supply of food and water at once, but it wasn't until three days later that the transport ship arrived here." Speaking of this, the woman couldn't help but trembled, "In the cargo hold... those who had the strength first killed They killed the seriously ill people and grabbed their food and water, and then they targeted some of the people who were alone and looked weak."

"They didn't keep an eye on you?" Ke Lan asked casually.

"I...my situation was pretty good at that time. I had the ability to resist, and I also had a companion...Although she is dead now, those people are not willing to waste their energy on us...But if the journey is longer, If anything, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

"Those people are targeting Marshall, right?" Ke Lan asked next.

"Yeah." The woman nodded, "He...that Marshall, he looked very ill, just a little better than those people lying on stretchers who couldn't get up. They surrounded him, and then..."

"Did those people beat him?" Asano Akira's voice came softly from the side. Although the volume was small, it was full of chill.

Ke Lan felt that if Asano Akira had been in the cargo hold at that time, he would have killed those people without hesitation.

"No..." The woman breathed out, moved back slightly, and put a little distance away from Asano Akira. Although she couldn't feel the murderous intention released by Asano Akira, the suppressed feeling was She was a little afraid to look directly at the young man holding the "guide stick". In comparison, Ke Lan, who almost strangled her to death just now, was less scary.

"Before they took action, that man... Marshall took the initiative to give them his food and water."

"Did he give them the food? All of it?" Ke Lan was a little stunned. If Marshall hadn't handed over all his portion, a beating and kicking would have been inevitable. Those guys' hands were already contaminated by his fellow shipmates. The blood of the miners must not care about the life and death of a person like him.

"Um."

"He just stayed in the cargo hold for three days without eating or drinking?"

"……Seems to be."

"Asano, is this possible?" Ke Lan turned around and asked. His meaning couldn't be more obvious - a person might not starve to death if he doesn't eat for three days, but if he doesn't drink water for three days, even if he doesn't A biochemically modified person like Dun would probably have died of dehydration long ago.

Unless they are the kind of specially modified people who have specially strengthened their physiological tolerance or can put themselves into a state similar to "suspended death", they are likely to survive.

"No, at least it was impossible for him at that time." Asano Akira replied.

At this time, the woman also reacted. She said to herself in disbelief: "He didn't drink any water or eat anything for three days...how...how did he survive...at that time I actually Didn’t notice this...he...has he mutated?"

"Probably, otherwise I wouldn't be able to find a reasonable explanation." Ke Lan said, "What happened next?"

"Later... I can't remember exactly what happened afterwards. Although my food and water were not taken away, the portion was too small. I was hungry and thirsty... I almost fell into coma several times. past."

She continued: "It was probably after the transport ship arrived here that the crew gave us some more food and water, and then we were kicked out of the cargo hold."

"What's next? Did the locals, 'Father' and the others, kill the sickest among you?"

"No, no, on our ship, the seriously ill patients were killed on the way. They just pulled out the teeth of the corpse... By the way, that's when they took away that person, the Marshall you mentioned! "

"Marshall was taken away by the 'priest'?!" Ke Lan was shocked, "What was his condition like at that time? Did you pay attention?"

"I...I didn't pay much attention. He always looked listless. When he was in the cargo hold, I thought he was dead several times."

"Then he was alive when he was taken away by the 'priest'?"

"Well... and I remember very clearly that 'Father' seemed very surprised when he saw him..." The woman paused, as if she was considering her words, "Surprised, no... it's a surprise, 'Father' 'I was very happy, and he asked his men to give him water...but after that, I never saw him."

"Tsk, now things are in trouble..." Ke Lan smacked his lips, imitating a hunting dog, and gently rubbed the stubble on his chin with his fingers, "The 'Father' has obviously discovered something. , now that we are looking for someone, we will inevitably have conflicts with them..."

…

At the same time, Layton and Ivan's side.

The two also followed the local residents into Area B. The boots of the power armor had built-in adsorption functions, so the two did not float due to the sudden change in gravity.

However, the moment they stepped into Area B, they felt a lot of unfriendly eyes focused on them. Overtly or covertly, at least twenty or thirty people were staring at them.

"I hate this feeling." Layton said in the team communication channel, "I always feel fuzzy in my heart."

"Weren't we all prepared before coming here?" Ivan replied, "Anyway, the task of dealing with the locals is left to Ke Lan and the others. We will be responsible for collecting some objective clues and providing support. We don't have to worry about those people."

"I always feel like they want to attack us." Layton muttered, "Damn it, how about we strike first?"

"Don't do stupid things," Ivan said, "be careful that Ke Lan scolds you to death."

"It's harmful, I'm just saying it..."